According to Banque Du Liban (BDL) statistics, the consolidated balance sheet of financial institutions operating in Lebanon narrowed by 1.13% ($13.25 million) during the first month of 2021 to $1,159.20 million, down from $1,172.45 million at year-end 2020. This can be mainly attributed to the 1.39% ($6.85 million) contraction in claims on customers to $486.13 million, coupled with some 2.68% ($1.72 million) decrease in cash & deposits with central banks to $62.45 million and a 12.34% ($1.64 million) drop in the value of other assets to $11.67 million, only to name a few. It is worth noting that claims on customers and on the resident financial sector are the two largest asset categories on financial institutions’ balance sheet, accounting for 41.94% and 27.94% of total assets on a respective basis. On the liabilities side, capital accounts plunged by 5.35% ($24.80 million) in January 2021 to $438.94 million, with customer deposits falling by 2.68% ($4.29 million) to $155.90 million, liabilities to the resident financial sector decreasing by 2.09% ($3.28 million) to $153.93 million, altogether outweighing the 8.50% ($18.44 million) rise in other liabilities to $235.38 million, the 0.59% ($0.46 million) increase in liabilities to the non-resident financial sector to $78.62 million and the 4.20% ($0.22 million) expansion in public sector deposits to $5.47 million.